Hi.
Remember me? ;) Just wanted to remind you that the poll closes TONIGHT. So if you haven't gotten in your votes, someone is going to be very disappointed. Two someones actually! So don't disappoint them - Read, Comment and Vote for your favorites!
therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1196686.html***
So where were we? I promised to tell you about my trip! Which means I haven't given you a real life update in about a week!
I've been trying to "Say Yes" to the opportunities that are being offered. Which is how, the night before I was going on my trip I ended up at a Glow Gala charity event for the local children's museum.
Me, in a room with a bunch of rich people "dressed up all fancy". My friend Sara had been the Creative Director years ago and based on the all of the staff and Board Members coming up to her during the event is still a "STEM celebrity" in the area from all of her work in teaching and expanding access to STEM education (including having a recurring spot on the news where she lives! She just invested in a STEM bus and will be talking it on the road to various stadiums throughout baseball season. She just made arrangements with the Red Sox to come up... none of that is about ME, but it's cool to see old friends being so successful! It's like if I brought a friend to an Idol Gala!! Or... *thinks*, nope, it would pretty much have to be an Idol Gala! ;)
I'm not sure how much experience anyone here has being in a room with people who are spending thousands of dollars at an auction on a whim. But it's very surreal.
I looked over at one point and realized a few tables away was the CEO of my former company. You know, the person who pulled the trigger on firing me. (Because there was absolutely zero chance that it was done without her approval) After the auction I walked over to say hello. When she realized who was coming toward her, she legitimately looked like a deer in the headlines looking for a place to run. It was a pleasant chat. She gave me a side hug and said it was good to see me, and introduced me to her husband. I told her that I was glad to see that things were going so well with the company now. She seemed relieved when I said that, and relaxed. Maybe this will result in people no longer being pulled into meetings and threatened with disciplinary action just for talking to me!
Anyway, you haven't lived until you see a bunch of white rich people dancing to 80s and 90s hip hop. That incompatible image is one you can't unsee. :)
Anyway, so I didn't get back to the house until after midnight. My flight to Dallas was at 7:20. I slept for a couple hours. Literally a couple hours, before I had to hop back in an Uber and head to the airport.
Slept some on the plane. As much as I could.
Got into Dallas. Met up with my friend Rachael and walked around. More of a recent friend so it was the first time we've met in person. It was nice getting to hang out, it was a shame that she wasn't able to make the show! We saw the giant eyeball in downtown Dallas, the farmer's market and this place called Thanks-giving Chapel.
www.dallasadex.org/lost-and-found-contemplating-thanks-giving-square/That place is really special. Afterward we were going to go somewhere else, but cut through a hotel and ended up in the lobby sitting and talking for a couple hours until our friends Shelley and Eileen showed to take me to the concert.
We drove down to Waco. The show was great but I was EXHAUSTED! My seats were great, but my friends were on the floor of the stadium. At one point toward the end I look over and Shelley has joined me... and asks if I'm ready and I'm too tired to know what she's talking about. She grabs my hand, and positions it so security can't see that I'm not wearing a wrist band, and then moves my hand so it's around her so the second series of security can't notice the lack of a band either! :D She's obviously a pro at this. Note to security - just let her do it! It's for a good cause! :)
Honestly, that moment of her knowing that I was feeling alone - even in a sea of people - and wanting me to feel included, that meant more than I can possibly express. She's a really good friend (she was the one who gave me the ticket in the first place, and then kept getting more tickets from people and traded up several times!) Standing much closer to the action definitely improved the show.
crescentvale.com/2025/08/boys-from-oklahoma-concert-turnpike-troubadours-cross-canadian-ragweed-and-more-rock-waco/The main acts were Cross Canadian Ragweed and Turnpike Troubadours. Throughout the show there were guest stars who came out. They saved the biggest one for the end - Robert Earl Keen!! (If you don't know who that is, that will make no difference. If you do though, you KNOW how big of a deal that is for him to just appear out of nowhere unexpectedly!)
Afterward I went back to Dallas in an Uber and tried, unsuccessfully, to sleep in the airport that was already opened and busy by the time I got there! I was pretty much a zombie when I got back to Tampa! (Slept most of the flight)
All of this happened because I've been saying "Yes"... I may need to set up a "Say Yes" fundraiser though because that's going to get a lot more difficult in the coming, rest of my life. :D
Seriously though, it was a really good weekend, and I really needed it.
***
Things are the house are decent. I love being around Cynthia and she seems much happier without having to be "the wife" role on her. It's nice to see her smile again. Not sure how much longer I will be living here (lots of variables at play) but I want to enjoy the time we have together.
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clauderainsrm2025-09-20 03:16 pm
